Missing Context: Claiming that Zelenskyy Bans Churches is Purposefully Misleading

The post fact-checked claiming that the Ukrainian President bans churches and oppositional parties is missing context. Zelenskyy said that Ukraine will restrict the activities of religious organizations related to Russia on its territory and reevaluate the status of the Orthodox Church that depends on Moscow Patriarchate. The post however, does not mention that Ukraine is rightfully concerned for some of the parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that are under the influence of Moscow thus representing a security threat to the country. In addition, it does not mention that a month ago, in a raid of the monastery compound, Pechersk Larva in Kyiv, which is controlled by a church linked to Moscow, suspicious Russian citizens and large amounts of money were found. Regarding the ban of political parties, which occurred last March, the post does not mention the reason for such a move – eleven Ukrainian political parties were suspended due to their connections with Russia

 

 

We checked the facts of the post on the social network Facebook that claims that the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was a dangerous tyrant who bans churches an oppositional parties. That same post shares a video from Fox News by the journalist Tacker Carlson claiming that Zelenskyy is desparately trying to punish the Christians.

This is not true. Zelenskyy did not ban the Church, nor is he punishing the Christians. The post is deliberately lacking context. Not a word is mentioned about the century long religious strife in Ukraine.

What is really the matter?

Zelenskyy said that Ukraine will restrict the activities of religious organizations connected with Russia on its territory and reassess the status of the Orthodox Church that depends on the Moscow Patriarchy. In his address Zelenskyy said that a law was required to prevent religious organizations linked with the centres of infuence of the Russian Federation to operate in Ukraine, referring to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church which is under direct control of Moscow. These measures followed after the raid of the main monastery in Kyiv undertaken by Ukrainian Security Service last November as well as of several other religious places suspected for established links with Moscow.

The post fact-checked does not say that Ukraine has reasonable doubt about some of the parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under direct influence of Moscow thus representing a threat for the security of the country. This was clarified by Emerging Europe in its explanatory text titled: “No, Ukraines’s president hasn’t banned the Orthodox Church”. As the article explains:

Ukraine has long held concerns that the Moscow affiliated Ukrainian Orthodox Church poses a security threat, and has instead promoted the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which in 2019 was granted “autocephaly” or independence by the Partriarch of Constantinople. The process was ratified in a ceremony in Instanbul (Constantinople) on Orthodox Christmas Eve 2019, when the Metropolitan of Kyiv, Epiphanus I received Tomos from Bartholemew, the Ecumeniucal Patriarch of Constantinople.

It meant that for Constantinople, which adheres to a strict “one country” principle, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine – loyal to Kyiv – was now the only canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. For Ukraine, it was a key moment, as it represented another step away from political, economic and religious subservience to Russia.

Indeed, as a result of the split, Russia lost property, priests, believers and, crucially, its spiritual and symbolic authority over Ukraine. Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Head of the Russian Orthodoc Church, Partriarch Kirill, condemned the move and broke off relations with the Constantinople Patriarch.

In May, following Kirill’s strong statements of support for Russia’s brutal invasion, many of the parishes in Ukraine which had remained loyal to Moscow cut ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. There is no formal data on how many Ukrainian parishes remain in Moscow’s orbit, but given that 2020 estimates put the figure at 14 percent, the number is likely to now be considerably lower.

In the centre of Kyiv, however, the Pechersk Lavra Monastery, colloquially known as the Cave Monastery, remains under the control of the Moscow-affilated church.

The post deliberately omits to inform that a month ago, suspicious Russian citizens and large amounts of money were found during a raid in the Pechersk Lavra Monastery compound in Kyiv.

In the centre of Kyiv, however, the Pechersk Lavra Monastery, colloquially known as the Cave Monastery, remains under the control of the Moscow-affilated church. It was last month raided by Ukraine’s Security Service, the SBU, which uncovered “dubious” Russian citizens, large sums of cash in various currencies and pro-Russian literature.

The SBU said the operation was aimed at preventing the use of the monastery as “the centre of the Russian world” and carried out to look into suspicions “about the use of the premises… for sheltering sabotage and reconnaissance groups, foreign citizens and weapons storage. Other religious sites in Ukraine were also searched, reported Guardian.

Exactly because of that, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to the MPs to prevent the Orthodox Christianity branch under the influence of Moscow to act in Ukraine. There are no sanctions, nor penalties for believers as the post claimed.

The Constitution of Ukraine guarantees the right to freedom to personal philosophy and religion, including the right to solely or collectively and without restriction to undertake religious rites and ceremonial rituals as well as to perform a religious activity. In addition, it also allows the restriction of that right in the interest of the protection of public order, stated Zelenskyy.

Regarding the claim that Zelenskyy was evidently not interested in freedom and democracy, that also is untrue. Facts point out that Ukraine is a democratic state ranked higher than Russia.

Essentially, Ukraine is in the midddle of the Democracy Index compared to the former Soviet republics. In the Democracy Index, Ukraine is ranked much higher than Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan or Turkmenistan – all estimated as authoritarian regimes. But, that is much lower than Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – now member-states of the European Union which are considered as full democracies, pinpoints the Democracy Index for 2021.

Concerning democratic freedoms in Ukraine, the Freedom House report on world freedoms in 2021, as reported by Washinton Post, states:

Ukraine has enacted a number of positive reforms since the protest-driven ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.

Regarding the ban of political parties, that took place last March, this claim also lacks context and does not specify the reason.

Eleven Ukrainian political parties were suspended due to their links with Russia. The National Security and Defence Council adopted a decision to ban political activities of parties connected with Russia which will be enforced until the end of the military state.

Most of the suspended parties are small, but one them, Opposition Platform – For Life, has 44 out of a total of 450 mandates in the Ukrainian Parliament.

The activities of those politicians aimed at division or collusion, will not succeed, but will receive a harsh response. Therefore, the National Security and Defence Council decided, given the full-scale war unleashed by Russia and the political ties that a number of political structures have with this state, to suspend any activity of a number of political parties for the period of martial law, said Zelenskyy.

Due to all of the above-mentioned facts, we believe that the post fact-checked and which, inter alia, claims that Zelenskyy bans churches and oppositional parties is missing context.

 

 

 

 

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